Search the Internet          Tips  Sites: Finance, Investment

US slowdown not to hit exports: Mahajan

Indian Information Technology Minister Pramod Mahajan said on Monday that Indian exports will not be dragged by the US economic slowdown although profitability might be reduced.

"The size of the economy will not shrink, the size of businesses will not shrink, although margins may fall here and there," Pramod told reporters after opening Indian software company NIIT's NIIT.BO> regional multimedia development centre in Kuala Lumpur.

Pramod is accompanying India's premier Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who is on a three-day visit to Malaysia, during which a raft of economic agreements were signed.

"The US slowdown will not last more than three or four quarters and we view it as an opportunity for Indians to prepare for the next phase of development," he said.

India's tech industry is valued at about $8.0 billion but the sector has been hit by a downturn in the US economy, its main market, which accounts for more than half of total sales.

India's technology-savvy firms such as Infosys Technologies, Satyam Computer Services and Wipro have been successful in the international arenas.

It now eyes the awakening markets of Asean, a trading bloc of 10 nations comprising, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Brunei, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar.

As an emerging global computer software power, India will be looking to take advantage of Malaysia's infrastructure facilities in its high-tech Multimedia Super Corridor, industry leaders said.

The MSC is one of the most ambitious projects launched by Malaysian premier Mahathir Mohamad to help the country achieve developed nation status by 2020.

It is a 15-by-50 km zone stretching southwards from Kuala Lumpur's Twin Towers to the city's shiny but under-used international airport.

Malaysia's is among the world's leading chip manufacturers, sub-contracting for some of the largest US computer giants such as Intel Corp and Dell Computer Corp.

India is Malaysia's 11th largest trading partner.

Tell us what you think of this report